The sun is shining and our store doors are open to let in the Spring breeze.  For some of us, it means one thing:  Spring cleaning!  

Our last blog post shared how often you should clean your households, like your sheets, pillows, towels, curtains, carpet, & area rugs.  Today, we want to expand to include some items you may have forgotten about as you rush to and fro each day. 

Hair Brushes/Combs- It’s recommended that you wash your brushes and combs about every two months. First pull out stray hairs with a comb then swish the brush back and forth in a sink full of soapy water. Rinse and tap off excess water. Lay the brush bristle side down on a towel to dry or use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process.

Coffee Maker - After about 12 brews, you should clean your coffee pot.  Old coffee grounds and water deposits will alter the taste of your morning joe if you let it go too long.  The machine will function better and last longer if you clean it often.  To clean, run two parts vinegar to one part water through the machine.  Or you can run the machine through a full cycle twice with cold water, using a filter if your machine takes filters.

Washing Machine – According to Good Housekeeping, you should run the cleaning cycle monthly.   If your machine doesn’t have a “cleaning cycle”, “add liquid chlorine bleach to the dispenser and run a normal cycle with hot water.  If you have a front-loader, be sure to wipe the rubber gasket”.  For a “greener” option to bleach, run the washer through an entire hot water wash cycle with two cups of white vinegar.  Run the washer a second time on the shortest cycle possible with just water to rinse away any trace of vinegar.  Leave the lid or door open after to air out remaining moisture. Be sure to unclog the inlet hose filter too so water continues to flow adequately into the machine during the wash cycle.

Dryer – To help your dryer run efficiently, you should clean out the lint trap after every use and the dryer duct often.  In many homes the dryer exhaust is vented over long distances and include bends and turns where lint can easily accumulate. Cleaning out the vent will result in lower energy use, improved drying times, and lessen the chance of a fire.   Consider having a professional with the proper equipment and expertise service the appliance at least once a year.

Inside your refrigerator - The nationally recognized Clean out your Refrigerator day isn’t until November 15, 2012 but please don’t wait that long. You should be emptying and scrubbing the inside of your produce bins about every few months to keep the produce flavors fresh. Wipe down the rest of your refrigerator at the same time. We suggest using good old baking soda and warm water, avoiding any cleansers with chemicals of course.

Television Screens – Wipe these down every two to four weeks.  If you have little sticky hands that find their way to the screen, it could need a wipe down more frequently.  Use a soft, dry microfiber cloth.  If your screen is an LCD (glass) screen,  you could add a little water to the cloth.  Wipe the screen back and forth then up and down to avoid streaks. 

Air Ducts & Vents - Spring is the perfect time to clean your air vents.  HVAC systems are often overworked during the winter months. This can cause contaminants to build up, making the air duct system function less efficiently unless cleaned.  We found great information on do it yourself air duct cleaning on DIY Life and eHow Home.  If you decide to hire a professional to do it for you, try to get a recommendation from a reliable acquaintance or consult a review service like Angie’s List.

If you have any tips or recommendations for do it yourself Spring cleaning, we’d love to hear from you.  While you’re busy cleaning some or all of the items above, we’ll take the laundry off your hands.  Our 20% off Households limited time offer continues until May 25th, 2011 just in time to enjoy the long Holiday weekend with a clean home and closet.

At Classic Cleaners we talk a lot about cleaning.  Mostly it’s about your clothing items or wedding gowns like in our blogs “How often should you wash your clothes“, and “Preserving your fondest Memories“.   But what about all the other stuff laying around the home like your Curtains, carpet, and area rugs?

Do you ever wonder what’s “normal” or “average” for how often you should wash your sheets, pillows or towels?  Here’s a quick run down of when some of your household items need the once over.

Curtains - If your curtains are heavier weight, you can use the upholstery brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner each week when you vacuum your home.  If your window treatments are more delicate, then simply shake them out on occasion – probably right before you vacuum.  When washing your curtains, be sure to check the care label first.  Most washable curtains will need to be washed in cold water with a small amount of laundry detergent.   If you’re in doubt about your curtains, take them to a professional for dry cleaning.

Carpet -  How often you clean is based on how you treat the carpet, how many people live in the home and if you have pets.   If you take your shoes off, have no kids or pets, and vacuum frequently, then you can go two years easily without needing a professional.  But, if you are a family of 4 and neglect to always take off your shoes in the home, we advise you clean the carpets every season.  Dirt is an abrasive and if left alone, it will slowly grind away at your carpet and vacuuming is not enough to get all the dirt out.  Carpet also collects pollen, pollutants and fungus which can accumulate.  If you have pets and/or are prone to allergies, you may even want to have your carpets cleaned more frequently.

Area Rugs -
•    If the area rug is in the bathroom, it needs to be washed weekly if it’s a non rubber backing.  (Unfortunately, rubber backing rugs don’t do as well in warm/hot water so they should be washed every 3-4 weeks).  The rug gets damp many times (especially in kids bathrooms) and may not dry out all the way each day between uses.  Mold and mildew can grow easily if it’s not washed often.  Wash in warm water – maybe even hot water to ensure it gets really clean.  Let the rug  hang dry over the shower or outside on a line.  Only dry the rug in the dryer if it has a non-rubber backing. 

•    Other area rugs should be vacuumed regularly and rotated every 6 months.  If the rug is small enough to take outside and “beat”, we recommend doing that when you rotate the rug.  If not, you may want to call a professional to come pick it up and clean it for you.  Do not use the harsh chemicals that are sold for wall to wall carpeted rooms.  Area rug fibers are more delicate, colors can bleed and the excess moisture can ruin the floors underneath the rug. 

Sheets – You should wash your sheets every two weeks at a minimum and once a week is ideal.  You shed dead skin, oil, and sweat when you sleep and dust mites have a field day living, eating, and reproducing on your sheets.  For those who suffer from allergies, you could prevent them or lower them by simply washing your sheets more often.  Wash in hot soapy water and let them dry completely in the dryer.  Wash your bedding more often if there is reason to do so.

Duvet Covers – Depending on how you treat the duvet cover dictates how often you should wash it.  For example, if you have pets that lounge on your bed, you should wash the duvet cover weekly at a minimum.  In all other cases,  your duvet cover should be treated similarly to your sheets in terms of laundering.  If you sleep with a sheet between you and the duvet cover, you should wash the duvet cover monthly.  If you do not use a flat sheet and just sleep with the comforter covered with the duvet cover, you should wash the duvet cover weekly.  If you use a flat sheet, a blanket and then the duvet cover, you would be fine washing your duvet cover quarterly (four times a year) bearing there are no spills or stains incurred between washings. 

Pillows – Every six months you could throw your down or polyester pillows in the wash.  Washing them monthly could substantially cut down the dust mites and allergens.  Wash them two at a time with detergent on the gentle cycle then select the extra spin cycle to remove excess water.  Tumble dry low, fluffing the pillows every so often. 

Towels – Wash bathroom laundry towels every 3-5 uses.  Be sure the towel has time to dry off between uses to ward off mold and mildew.  If you use your towel more than 3-5 times before washing it, remember, each time you dry off (even though you’re clean) you are scraping off dead skin cells that collect in the fibers of your towel.  So you end up with 5 days worth of dead skin cells in your towel on that 6th use.  Yuck!

At Classic Cleaners, we are experts in cleaning your household items.  Check back with us May 7th, 2012 for our next Limited Time Offer where we are offering 20% off Households until May 26th, 2012.   We specialize in bed linens, down pillow rejuvenation, window treatments and table linen cleaning.   Count on us to help you clean large items like your comforters and duvet covers too!

We are unable to clean your area rugs but we can give you a great recommendation if you need assistance.

Going “Green” means taking measures to become environmentally conscious in your decisions – using various every day methods to reduce the harm that your living does to the environment.  Another popular term is “Sustainable living” which means “living a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the Earth’s natural resources and his/her own resources”. 

If you want to “go Green”, you’re not expected to throw everything out and do a 180 today.  If you try to do that, most likely you’ll give up due to the overwhelming-ness of it all.  Just make a few small changes in your daily life to begin to go green. 

For example, recycling is a huge way to begin to go green and do your part to encourage re-usable resources.  Instead of plastic, paper, aluminum and glass ending up in a landfill, it can be re purposed and used again.  By recycling, you are “going Green”.

Another to go green is when your cleaning products run out, try to replace them with products that are ”organic” or “chemically free”.  When you use products containing harmful chemicals, the chemicals get washed down the drain and end up back in our water sources. 

When you’re in the market for a new vehicle, look for one that is more fuel efficient.  You don’t need to sell your existing car now to go green.  Remember, small steps.  For now, try to reduce how much you let your car idle at drive through windows, carpool pick up lines and while waiting for someone.  For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile.

More ways to slowly go green:

• When your batteries run out, replace them with rechargeable batteries.  The electrical energy is used and than the battery can be re-used after its charging.
• When your gas powered lawn mower gives out, look for an electric one.While shopping at the grocery store, bring your own canvas sacks instead of taking home their plastic bags. 
• Shop at Farmer’s Markets.  Purchasing from local farmers keeps money in the local economy.  
• Ride your bike instead of driving when you’re able.Turn off your tap water while brushing your teeth and turn off lights when they are not necessary.
• Set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer to save on heating and cooling costs.
• Unplug appliances when you’re not using them. Or, use a smart” power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts “phantom” or “vampire” energy use.
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.  Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.
• Skip buying bottled water and purchase a re-usable water bottle, preferably aluminum rather than plastic, to use and refill.  
• Create a compost pile for use in your garden.
• Shop re-sale for clothing and use your local library to borrow books.
• Buy in bulk. Purchasing food from bulk bins can save money and packaging.
• Keep your cell phones, computers and other electronics as long as possible then donate or recycle them responsibly when the time comes.  See our last Earth Day 2012  post for resources on where to do that.

You might already be implementing some of the above tips and if you are, you’re helping the environment and you are being “green”. You don’t have to implement everything on this list.  Going green can mean just starting out with one simple step and then growing from there.   Make one small change then make another, then another, then another.

On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012.  Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970 and that led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Locally, Earth Day Indiana is in it’s 22nd year.  On Saturday, April 28th, the Earth Day Indiana Festival will take place at White River State Park in Indianapolis.  This outdoor, family-friendly event will combine informational exhibits, good food, live music, and activities for the kids.

But you don’t have just April 28th to demonstrate your commitment to protect our Earth and demonstrate your appreciation of it’s resources.  You can make small changes each day year round to show your support of a healthier environment.

Recycle.  Indianapolis has made it easy to recycle materials.  Some neighborhoods are provided with a recycle trash can or bin that you simply set on your curb on trash day.  No longer must you sort the paper, plastic, glass and aluminum.  Just toss the item into the designated trash receptacle like you’d throw any item away.  If you are not provided with a bin, there are many drop of locations around the city that you most likely pass each day on your commute.

Properly discard of household hazardous waste.  Doing so prevents this waste from ending up in our landfills, sewers, and waterways (some are drinking water sources).  A program called ToxDrop has been created to help Citizens of Marion County properly dispose unwanted and unused household hazardous waste (HHW).  “Through year-round Saturday collection site locations and periodic ToxAway Day events, the ToxDrop Program has made significant advancements to help residents properly and safely dispose of HHW”. 

Donate.  Computers, cell phones, furniture, clothing, toys, books, household items, etc. can all be reused by someone in need.  What you choose to do with these items once no longer needed can strongly effect the environment.  Appliances and electronics if not in working order can still be donated to organizations that will reuse parts or dispose of them properly.    For a list of non-profit organizations you can donate these items, click here.  For a complete recycle and reuse guide for all Recycle Indianapolis locations, including places to dispose of appliances, electronics, and hazardous waste, please click here.

At Classic Cleaners, Inc. we encourage all of our team to recycle.  We also ask our customers to bring back the wire hangers and the plastic bags we cover your cleaned garments in so we can reuse the hangers and recycle the bags.  We package most household items in recyclable bags.  If you use our free pick up and delivery service, you can just leave the items for your route driver on your next pick up.  If you use our family wash, we return your clothes folded in recyclable boxes then give you a credit towards  your next fluff and fold.